Pocono Mountain school board member gives his account of fight

Friday

Jun 1, 2012 at 12:01 AM

George Strunk said he was attacked by his brother-in-law during an argument over his wife and a suspected drug dealer, according to a statement he released Thursday and court papers filed in a divorce proceeding.

HOWARD FRANK

George Strunk said he was attacked by his brother-in-law during an argument over his wife and a suspected drug dealer, according to a statement he released Thursday and court papers filed in a divorce proceeding.

Strunk, a Pocono Mountain School District board member, was charged with aggravated assault following the May 23 altercation.

In a statement, Strunk said he was attacked by brother-in-law Gregory Oney when Strunk wanted to call police after learning a man was coming to his home to collect a $100 debt from his wife.

George Strunk, 38, of Cresco was charged after police said he beat up Oney, kicked his wife Debra, 50, and held the pair at gunpoint.

George Strunk said that on May 23 he got a call from a friend that a "dangerous man named Adam" was going to his home to collect money from his wife.

Strunk rushed home, arriving at 4:30 p.m., and found his wife and her brother, Oney, at the home.

"They denied that anyone named Adam was coming to the house, but later in the conversation they acknowledged that he was coming," Strunk wrote. "They admitted that Adam expected to be paid money by my wife, but denied she owed him money."

George Strunk said he asked his wife and brother-in-law to leave with him in his truck for safety reasons. He also told the two they needed to call police.

"Greg Oney argued with me and I told Greg to shut his mouth or leave my home," Strunk wrote. "And he punched me in the face and threw me into a curio cabinet, breaking the glass. We struggled physically. Greg Oney was the aggressor."

George Strunk also denied that he struck his wife.

"I never hit or kicked my wife during the struggle and I never told either of them that they could not leave," he said in his statement.

Strunk said he took his cellphone out to call police after the struggle and asked the pair to stay.

"I never held them against their will, but I did tell them to stay until the police came. My wife begged me not to call the police because it would 'get her in trouble' and she fled with Greg Oney," Strunk said.

George Strunk did not address accusations by his wife and brother-in-law that he pulled out a .45-caliber handgun, pointed it about a foot from Oney's face and said "No one is going anywhere."

The anticipated debt-collecting visit to the Strunk home was allegedly the second in two days.

A day before the altercation and arrest, a man came to the Strunk home and demanded payment of a $100 debt by Debra Strunk, according to an attorney representing George Strunk in a divorce proceeding filed Wednesday.

"(George) personally answered the door at the marital home on May 22nd," Attorney Jane Roach Maughan said. "A large man driving a black BMW demanded money. When George inquired, the man claimed that Mrs. Strunk owed him money for 'furniture.' Mr. Strunk ordered him to leave the property immediately."

The man was referred to as "Duke" or "D" in court papers. George Strunk gave state police in Swiftwater the license plate of the BMW, according to Maughan.

The couple has been married for eight years. Debra Strunk and Gregory Oney could not be reached for comment.

At the Pocono Mountain School Board meeting Wednesday night, audience members asked Strunk to resign. He said he hasn't decided whether he will resign from the board while the investigation proceeds.

George Strunk is also chairman of the board of the Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport Authority and assistant treasurer of the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation. He is free on bail.